Old concert reviews, previews and stories from Playback:STL. Opinions expressed ten years ago do not necessarily represent my opinions today.

Friday, October 28, 2016

Shellac in St. Louis. Again. Twelve Years Later

Shellac last played the St. Louis region on June 17, 2004 at the Collinsville, IL VFW hall. It was a make up date for a show originally scheduled for October 23, 2002 at a different VFW hall - The Fairview Heights (IL) branch, if memory serves me. Clearly, the show was postponed. Drummer Todd Trainer injured his back, OR so the story goes. I was bummed. Now I'll never get to see Shellac. Oh the woe.
At the time, seeing Shellac of North America was truly the last of my "I HAVE TO SEE THIS BAND BEFORE I DIE" shows. In the twelve years since that day, I've seen Shellac on two other occasions in Chicago. Hell Night 2016 will be three as Shellac returns to St. Louis City proper. The lesson of bucket list bands is that even if you miss out the first time, chances are decent, if you are willing to hop a train, you will get another chance.
I wrote a review of that show and while I own the review and find it more or less accurate, it does illustrate a couple things about aging.
One is how we interpret things as a twenty-nine year old versus how we see things pushing forty-two. There is a certain overreaction, a mild misinterpretation if you will. The folks at the VFW hall in Collinsville did not screw Shellac by cutting their last song short. They cut their last song short, because the liquor laws said that they had to. We should be grateful that they allowed the fine dudes in The Conformists to book the show. Not that they cut the song 'Copper' by thirty seconds.
In addition, the hero worship, the elevation of dudes who have graced your town with their presence is a little overstated. I like Shellac, you might even say love, but what Steve Albini thinks is not word nor gold. He is a micro-celebrity, who content aggregators monitor for headlines, but he is just a dude -- who taxes do NOT pay my salary.
So WELCOME BACK Shellac. I will be the dude in the Bob Weston costume. JAZZ HANDS!!!